As a business owner, you’re held to a high standard regarding regulations and proper procedures. Fire safety is one of the most closely regulated areas at your place of business because of how dangerous fire can be for your employees and customers. Below, we’ll be discussing the common types of violations and fines for neglecting proper fire safety measures and how to avoid them.

Regular maintenance is essential to keep equipment, machines and the work environment safe and reliable. Lack of maintenance or inadequate maintenance can lead to dangerous situations, accidents and health problems. Maintenance is a high-risk activity with some of the hazards resulting from the nature of the work. Maintenance workers are more likely than other employees to be exposed to various hazards.

“Business compliance” is a phrase that makes many an entrepreneur cringe. But despite the lack of affection for those two words, business owners MUST take them seriously. The possible consequences for noncompliance range from “mild inconvenience” to “devastating disaster.” Most critical is that noncompliance by Limited Liability Companies and Corporations can lead to “piercing the corporate veil,” which puts business owners’ personal assets at risk. (More on that later!)

Before I get into the penalties for noncompliance, let’s first take a moment to discuss what it is exactly.

Are you aware how severe Health and Safety non-compliance penalties can be? Do you know what constitute these penalties, according to the Occupational Health and Safety Act? Many companies find themselves breaching the finer details of the OHS Act due to lack of knowledge. Avoid being slapped with heavy fines by knowing your Act.
Health and Safety non-compliance penalties are the forms of punishment that the Department of Labour imposes on employers whose premises are found to be non-compliant.

The health and safety fines handed out in 2021 have been substantially less than 2020. All of them have been under £1 million.

So far, 2021 has been a bumper year for safety fines, with the highest penalty double the biggest fine in 2020, whilst the highest fine in 2019 only £1 million!

Many of the fines handed out this year resulted from equipment not being safeguarded. If a risk assessment identifies any significant risk of major injury to operators and others, checks should take place by an inspector with sufficient knowledge and experience.

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he average fine handed down for breaches of the Fire Safety Order has risen sharply since the fire at Grenfell Tower in 2017.

fire-safety-orderReviewing 200 of his cases brought under the legislation, fire safety solicitor Warren Spencer found that the average fine since the tragedy is £27,519, more than a third (35%) higher than the average across 2014-2019, which is £20,375.

Fire Safety in 2021 eBook – Is the industry ready to embrace systemic change in building safety? IFSEC Global has released its Annual Fire Safety Report 2021, keeping you up to date with the biggest stories of the year, including new legislation, improving building safety culture post-Grenfell and the importance of third-party certification in fire door safety.